Chapter 2

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Chapter 2

A Child’s World: How We

Discover It


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Theory

Coherent set of logically related concepts that seeks to: Organize

Explain

Guide/Inspire

Predict

Hypotheses


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Basic Theoretical Issues

Nature vs. nurture

Active vs. reactive

Organismic vs. mechanistic

Continuity vs. discontinuity

Quantitative vs. Qualitative

Early vs. later experience

Stability vs. change


Psychoanalytic theories: Freud and Erikson

Behavior is a surface characteristic

Need to understand the symbolic workings of the mind

Early experiences with parents are emphasized

THEORIES OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

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Freud’s Theory Psychosexual Development

• Sigmund Freud (1856–1939)• Parts of personality

– Id– Ego– Superego

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Psychosexual Stages

Fixation: Too much or too little gratification


Erikson’s TheoryPsychosocial Development

• Erik Erikson (1902–1994)– Modified and expanded Freud’s theory– Psychosocial crises – Identity

• Differences from psychosexual development– Social interactions– Conscious – Active actions– Eight stages ?

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Learning Theories

• Behaviorism - John B. Watson– Classical conditioning - Ivan Pavlov– Operant conditioning - B. F. Skinner

• Observable Behavior; individual passively learn behaviors

• Social Learning Theory– Observational learning – Albert Bandura

• Active participants in learning


Pavlov’s classical conditioning

A neutral stimulus acquires the ability to produce a response originally produced by another stimulus

Skinner’s operant conditioning

The consequences of a behavior produce changes in the probability of the behavior’s occurrence

A behavior followed by Reinforcement or Punishment

Behavioral Theories


Social Learning Theory

• Albert Bandura – Added Social and Cognitive influences to

behaviorism– Observational Learning– Reciprocal Determinism (B E P)– Self-Efficacy– Child is an active learner


The Cognitive Perspective

Focuses on children’s mental processes and the behavior that reflects those processes

– Jean Piaget’s Cognitive-Developmental Theory– Information-Processing Theory– Lev Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory

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Piaget’s Cognitive-Developmental Theory

• Worked with Binet on IQ tests for children• Children are “natural physicists” • Developmental

– Think different at different ages


PIAGET’S FOUR STAGES OF COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT


Piaget’s Basic Concepts

• Organization– Schemes

• Adaptation– Assimilation– Accommodation– Equilibration


Information-Processing Theory

Influenced by the concepts of computer science

– Input, Storage, Processing, Output• Encoding• Memory• Retrieval

– Software and Hardware• Mental processes• Brain


Sociocultural Theory Culture and social interact to guide cognitive

development

Thoughts are “created” by the culture we live in and the tools we use

Cognitions are created and live in our social world

Lev Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory


The Contextual Perspective

Urie Bronfenbrenner’ s Ecological Theory• Reciprocal interactions between individual

and their environment.– Not a Developmental Theory!– Focuses on systems children participate in


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Figure 2.2 - Bronfenbrenner’sBioecological Theory


E. O. Wilson and Darwin

Ethology: Adaptive behaviors and critical/sensitive periods. Study animals and apply to humans.

Evolutionary Theory: Survival of the fittest and development of adaptive behaviors in a particular society/culture.

Evolutionary/Sociobiological Perspective


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Research Methods

Quantitative research: Deals with objectively measurable data.

Based on scientific method: System of established principles and processes of scientific inquiry.

Identifies a problem to be studied.

Formulates a hypothesis to be tested by research.

Collects data.

Analyzes the data.


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Research Methods

Forms tentative conclusions.

Disseminates findings.

Qualitative research: Interpretation of nonnumerical data, such as subjective experiences, feelings, or beliefs.

Focuses on the how and why of behavior

Informs both how they collect data as well as its interpretation


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Table 2.3 - Comparing Qualitative and Quantitative Research


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Sampling

Sample: Group of participants chosen to represent the entire population under study.

Should adequately represent the population under study

Type used by quantitative researchers

• Random selection• Selection of a sample in such a

way that each person in a population has an equal and independent chance of being chosen.

Type used by qualitative researchers

• Focused selection• Participants are chosen for

their ability to communicate the nature of a certain experience.


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Table 2.4 - Major Methods of Data Collection


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Basic Research Designs

Case study: Study of a single subject, such as an individual or family.

Offers useful in-depth information.

Ethnographic study: In-depth study of a culture, which uses a combination of methods including participant observation.

Uses a combination of methods, including informal, unstructured interviewing and participant observation.


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Participant observation: Observer lives with the people or participates in the activity being observed.

Correlational study: Intended to discover whether a statistical relationship between variables exists.

Variables - Phenomena that change or vary among people or can be varied for purposes of research.

Correlations are expressed in terms of direction and magnitude.


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Two variables are related positively if they:

Increase or decrease together

Two variables have a negative, or inverse, correlation if:

One increases and the other decreases

Correlations are reported as numbers ranging from +1.0 to –1.0.


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Figure 2.3 - Scatter Plots of Positive, Negative, and No Correlations


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Experiment: Rigorously controlled, replicable procedure in which the researcher manipulates variables to assess the effect of one on the other.

Experimental group: Group receiving the treatment under study.

Control group: Group of people, similar to those in the experimental group, who do not receive the treatment under study.


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If the experimenter wants to compare the effects of different treatments, overall sample may be divided into treatment groups.

To ensure objectivity, some experiments use double-blind procedures.

Neither participants nor experimenters know who is receiving the treatment and who is instead receiving an inert placebo.


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Independent variable: Condition over which the experimenter has direct control.

Dependent variable: Condition that may or may not change as a result of changes in the independent variable.

Random assignment: Assignment of participants in an experiment to groups in such a way that each person has an equal chance of being placed in any group.


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Laboratory experiments - Participants are brought to a laboratory, where they experience conditions manipulated by the experimenter.

Field experiment - Controlled study conducted in an everyday setting.


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Laboratory and field experiments differ in two important respects:

Degree of control - Exerted by the experimenter

Degree to which findings can be generalized beyond the study situation

Natural experiment - Compares people who have been accidentally assigned to separate groups by circumstances of life.


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Advantages and Disadvantages of Basic Research Designs

Type Advantages DisadvantagesCase study • Flexibility

• Provides detailed picture of one person’s behavior and development

• Can generate hypotheses

• May not generalize to others• Conclusions not directly testable• Cannot establish cause and

effect

Ethnographicstudy

• Can help overcome culturally based biases in theory and research

• Can test universality of developmental phenomena

• Subject to observer bias

Correlationalstudy

• Enables prediction of one variable on basis of another

• Can suggest hyptheses about causal relationships

• Cannot establish cause and effect

Experiment • Establishes cause-and-effect relationships• Is highly controlled and can be repeated by

another investigator• Degree of control greatest in the laboratory

experiment

• Findings, especially when derived from laboratory experiments, may not generalize to situations outside the laboratory


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Table 2.6 - Cross-Sectional, Longitudinal, and Sequential Research


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Collaborative Research

Meta-analysis - Provides a systematic overview of the research on a topic .

Through statistical analysis of the combined findings of multiple studies

Used for controversial findings

Are an attempt to reconcile disparities across a large number of studies

Designs and methodologies of the studies may be inconsistent


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Ethics of Research

Guidelines of the American Psychological Association cover issues like:

Informed consent and avoidance of deception

Protection of participants from harm and loss of dignity

Right to decline or withdraw from an experiment at any time

Responsibility of investigators to correct any undesirable effects


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Ethics of Research

Three Principles of Ethical Dilemmas

• Beneficence - Obligation to maximize potential benefits to participants and to minimize potential harm

• Respect for autonomy - Of those who are unable to exercise their own judgment

• Justice - Inclusion of diverse groups together with sensitivity to any special impact the research may have on them

Ethical Considerations That Can Present Problems

• Right to informed consent• Avoidance of deception• Right to self-esteem• Right to privacy and

confidentiality


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Table 2.7 – Developmental Considerations in Children’s Participation in Research

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